Home court was no advantage for Bradley last Saturday as the offensively-challenged Braves lost to a Creighton offense that was firing on all cylinders, losing 72-50.
The recent spell of low percentage shooting has plagued the Braves over the last five games. Katie Yohn, the lone Brave in double figures, had 19 points and shot 6-16 from the field as the team went 28 percent from the field.
“We stayed right with them for a while, and then we started struggling offensively and we couldn’t hit,” coach Paula Buscher said. “It eventually wore on us and we broke down defensively and we didn’t play with the same intensity that we needed to. And obviously, Creighton shot the three-ball very well.”
Creighton’s Kelsey Woodard made more threes than the Braves. With five three-pointers, Woodard scored 21 points.
Woodard’s backcourt partner Cari Tritz added 10 points and forward Sam Schuett chipped in 14 points.
The Creighton trio was six points away from outscoring the Braves by themselves.
Creighton’s top scorers hurt the Braves most. While Bradley only committed a measly 13 turnovers, the Bluejays scored 22 points off of the turnovers.
A bright spot for the Braves was the play of sophomore guard Brooke Bisping, who scored a career-high nine points.
“She is our energy kid,” Buscher said. “She brings it every single day and gives you everything she has.”
With Bisping’s five rebounds, she was tied with senior Raisa Taylor and junior MacKenzie Westcott for the team lead.
Though the Bisiping, Taylor and Wescott found most of their points in the paint, the Braves couldn’t grab rebounds and lost the battle of the boards 36-35.
With Saturday’s loss, the Braves have slipped to 1-4 in their last five games and currently sit in third to last place in the Missouri Valley Conference.
“It has been a rough stretch,” Buscher said. “But we just have to get back and grab back on to our identity and really go out there and play with an intensity level.”
After hitting the road this week for their last road trip, the Braves will end the season on a three game home stand.
“We’ve got five games left, so we need to hit our stride and there’s still time,” Buscher said. “Obviously, it’s a tough stretch for us but this team is hungry and we can get out of this little pothole and get going.”
The home stand has three of the top five teams in the MVC coming to the arena. The first place Northern Iowa Panthers, third place Illinois State Redbirds and fifth place Indiana State Sycamores will be a test to see if Bradley can get things going for the MVC Tournament.
The Braves’ next game is Saturday at Southern Illinois at 4:30 p.m.
